From:Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation

The Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (DPER), Jack Chambers, has today (18/06/2026) launchedguidelines for designing better public servicesat the Better by Design Conference. He is joined during the day by Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Frank Feighan, who is delivering remarks at the event along with the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan, both highlighting the importance of design in delivering better public services.

The Better by Design Conference – a Public Service Design Conference and Showcase – is taking place today at the Light House Cinema in Dublin and is delivered by DPER in partnership with Creative Ireland and hosted by the Institute of Designers Ireland. The conference is a Shared Island event and is being attended by over 250 researchers and leaders from across the Irish Public Service and Northern Ireland.

Embedding human centred design is a flagship initiative within Better Public Services 2030, the government’s strategy for delivering inclusive, high quality and integrated public services. Design approaches support delivery across all three pillars of the strategy – digital and innovation at scale, workforce and organisation of the future, and evidence-informed policies and services designed for and with our public.

The Guidelines launched today provide practical tools for public servants to use design to place the needs of the public at the centre of services and deliver the greatest value. They will be used to support policy development and service delivery and are a product of three years of learning from projects across the public service.

Using design principles and approaches underpins the delivery of priority programmes for Government in areas of digitalisation, accelerating infrastructure and the government transformation and reform agenda. Ensuring that digital public services are easy to use is essential for the successful delivery of key digitalisation targets by 2030, with 100% of services to be available online and 90% of those services accessed online by the public.

Speaking at the conference Minister Chambers said:

“When we design policies and services, we shape how people experience the state in their everyday lives. Done well, this builds trust, unlocks opportunity and strengthens communities. These new design guidelines will support public servants to ensure a human centred approach to designing better public services that meet the needs and improve the lives of the people of Ireland. I strongly encourage every public servant to put these guidelines into practice. With these guidelines, we can shape the future we want to see.”

“I am delighted to announce today significant financial support under the government's Shared Island initiative to the Institute of Designers in Ireland. This will strengthen links between design businesses, policymakers and communities across the island over the next three years.”

Minister of State Frank Feighan with responsibility for Public Procurement, Digitalisation and E-Government highlighted the importance of human-centered design in delivering modern digital public services and advancing the Government’s Digitalisation Agenda:

“Good design is essential to delivering public services that actually work for people. We must ensure citizens remain at the centre of every decision we make, as we continue to modernise and digitalise services across Government.

We are designing services for all, to ensure that as we take advantage of the opportunities of digitalisation, nobody is left behind. Designing public services with the end user in mind is essential for meeting people’s needs, improving their experience of Government and enhancing quality of life across Ireland.”

To find out more about Better Public Services and Design in the Public Services please go to gov.ie/transformation. Details of the Better by Design Conference can be found at betterbydesign.ie.

Published today, the Design for Public Value Guidelines are a key milestone in embedding the use of design across public service delivery. They follow on from the publication of the Government Design Principles in 2022, which signalled the intention to take a fundamentally different approach to public service transformation – and these have been widely adopted in the years since. The embedding of these principles alongside the delivery of the Action Plan for Designing Better Public Services 2023-2025, put in place enablers to build the capability, commitment and culture across the public service to put them into practice.

The conference was a Shared Island event funded through the Government’s Shared Island Initiative, the event supports the desire to harness the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement and to enhance cooperation, connection, economic opportunity and mutual understanding on the island.

Better Public Services is the government’s strategy for public service transformation to 2030. It lays out the collective vision for public servants of inclusive, high quality and integrated Public Service provision that meets the needs and improves the lives of the people of Ireland. This strategy is about delivering for the public and strengthening trust in public institutions. It is being delivered through flagship cross-government programmes and through alignment of all public service bodies with three priority areas; inclusive, high quality and integrated Public Service provision that meets the needs and improves the lives of the people of Ireland.

The Digital Public Services Plan 2030 is the Irish Government's roadmap for delivering seamless, inclusive and user-centred public services through digital transformation. It aims to ensure that by 2030: 100% of key public services are available online; and 90% of applicable services are consumed digitally. At the heart of this transformation is the Life Events Approach, a model that reimagines public services around the real-life moments that matter to people, such as starting school, becoming a parent, accessing housing, or the birth of a child.